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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23742415">Of Punching Bags and Poison</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/GardenofCrystals/pseuds/GardenofCrystals'>GardenofCrystals</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Catra is a dumb cat, Curiosity almost kills the Catra, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Scorpia is a cinnamon roll, Scorpia is hella strong, Scorpia needs to let it all out, Training, White Out</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 14:56:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,323</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23742415</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/GardenofCrystals/pseuds/GardenofCrystals</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>How Scorpia learned that she always needs to clean up after training.  Also, Catra is a Dumb Cat who tends to lick things.  (Takes place shortly after White Out.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Catra/Scorpia (She-Ra)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>52</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Of Punching Bags and Poison</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Scorpia grew up training with the Horde.  So did Catra.  Therefore, it’s curious that something like this didn’t happen sooner.  It was probably because Force Captains had separate training rooms from the rest of the Horde, so this was the first time Scorpia and Catra shared a training room since they were kids, now that Catra was promoted to Force Captain.</p>
<p>It was a standard training room, filled with workout equipment, a track for running, and of course, punching bags.  Scorpia always tended to have a “favorite” punching bag, namely because she always did so much damage to them.  One punch from her heavy claws tended to shake the whole training room, let alone do considerable damage to a punching bag.  Out of courtesy to others who used the room, she preferred to stick to one bag so that she wouldn’t destroy the whole place.  She may be, as Adora put it, “a big bug,” but she always wanted to be a good friend to others, and good friends don’t destroy entire training rooms.</p>
<p>Today, she’d had “a real challenge of a day.”  She had just come back to the Fright Zone after a mission in the Northern Reach with Catra and Entrapta.  At least they managed to snag some First One’s tech, but her thwarted attempts to ask out Catra left her frustrated and embarrassed.  Adora only made it so much worse, and just rubbed it in Scorpia’s face that she and Catra grew up together.  While it was true that Scorpia intended to show Catra that she would always be there for her, (which is the one thing Adora failed to do), it was still frustrating in the meantime.  So, she took out some of it in the training room.</p>
<p>“I know Catra’s favorite number,” Scorpia mimicked Adora while hurling her massive claws at her punching bag.  “We grew up together in the Horde, I bet you’ll never be as close to her as I was!”  The more Scorpia thought about it, the more angry she got.  <em>It was just so unfair</em>.  Tears in her eyes blurred her vision, but she still managed to throw punch after punch, her pincers ripping the bag in places.  She threw in some stings too.  She always made sure to work on stinging during training, after all, she needed to keep her aim sharp in case she needed to sting a moving target…like She Ra. </p>
<p>After a while, Scorpia had enough.  She was tired.  She had a challenging day.  And that punching bag was not about to last much longer.  It was ripped in multiple places, stung in others, and did not have much life left in it.  Scorpia sighed, wiped the tears from her face, and left for the showers outside the training room.</p>
<p>Catra was not far behind.  She had a challenging day too, and wanted to make good use of the training room.  After almost getting She Ra under her control, Scorpia just had to break the “murder disc,” as Entrapa called it, causing She Ra to go back to normal, and her plan was thwarted.  Catra couldn’t deny that Scorpia definitely saved her life, but Catra was still annoyed.  Her annoyance turned to curiosity as she surveyed a particularly demolished punching bag.  Catra inspected it, and wondered who could possibly do that kind of damage.  For some reason, Scorpia did not cross her mind at all.  Probably because Catra perceived Scorpia as a total Cinnamon Roll, and forgot the sheer, awesome power that Scorpia possessed. </p>
<p>As Catra examined the punching bag, she noticed an odd fluid on parts of it.  Her sensitive nose could pick up sweat in an instant, but this smelled nothing like sweat.  This was unlike anything she had encountered before.  She sniffed closer, and her curious, feline instinct kicked in: she just had to lick it.  She didn’t know why, but that feline part of her brain that always wanted to lick things revved up to full speed.</p>
<p>She licked it.</p>
<p>Within a few moments, her head started spinning, and her heart started pounding.  Her tongue was numb.  She collapsed on the floor, paralyzed.  The sound got Scorpia’s attention, as she just finished getting dressed in the shower area by the training room.  The sight of her Catra on the floor caused her heart to jump into her throat. </p>
<p>“Oh no Wildcat, what happened?  Are you hurt?  Do you need to be nursed tenderly back to health?!” asked Scorpia in a panic as she knelt on the floor and propped up Catra in her arms. </p>
<p>“Scorpia…I don’t know why I did it…but I found something and had to lick it…You’re right, I can be such  a dumb cat sometimes…” Her tongue was swollen and it was difficult for her to talk, but Scorpia at least made this out.  Catra looked back to the punching bag. </p>
<p>Scorpia followed her eyes to the punching bag.  And then her eyes widened in horrific realization.</p>
<p>Catra must have licked some stray venom that Scorpia left on the bag.</p>
<p>“Ohhhh no.  This is so bad, what do I do??? This is all my fault!!!  I can’t believe I did this!” Scorpia cried while holding Catra.</p>
<p>“Ok, calm down,” Scorpia said to herself, “what do you do when something like this happens??” Scorpia racked her brain for some kind of ancestral wisdom that would have been passed down through the Scorpion family.  There was no way this was the first time something like this happened.  Her usual antivenom probably wouldn’t work, given that Catra licked it instead of getting stung.</p>
<p>Then Scorpia knew.  She scooped up the Wildcat in her arms and bolted to her room. </p>
<p>Later, when Catra came to, the first thing she noticed was that she was in someone’s bed that was not her own.  <em>Hang on, this is Scorpia’s room, </em>Catra thought<em>.</em>  She then noticed Scorpia, who appeared to be fretting over her.  <em>Just like usual</em>.</p>
<p>“Oh Catra, I’m so glad you’re coming around, and I am so, so, so sorry.”</p>
<p>Catra took a few moments to see what else was going on.  She felt a cold compress on her head, and noticed some painkillers on the bedside table.  “Scorpia, what happened?”</p>
<p>Scorpia cringed in embarrassment. “…you don’t remember?”</p>
<p>Then Catra remembered licking the punching bag.  Her eyes widened in embarrassment at being weakened by her own foolish impulses.  “I shouldn’t have licked that bag,” she said quietly to herself.</p>
<p>“Yeah.  I know. You shouldn’t have.  And I’m sorry.  Um…do you know what you licked?” asked Scorpia hesitantly, vaguely hoping that Catra wouldn’t figure out what it was.</p>
<p>“No idea…wait…”  Catra slowly started to fill in the blanks.  And then she realized. </p>
<p>“Wait…you were the one who completely demolished that punching bag??” asked Catra, with a newfound respect for Scorpia’s sheer strength. </p>
<p>“Yeah…yeah I did,” Scorpia said awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck with a claw.</p>
<p>Scorpia watched the gears turn in Catra’s head as Catra’s eyes flicked to the bulb on her tail. Scorpia pulled her tail to her chest protectively.  “Again, I am so sorry,” she said.</p>
<p>“You shouldn’t just leave venom out there like that,” Catra said quietly.</p>
<p>“As long as you don’t go around licking things, it won’t be a problem.  Now I know to bring a rag and clean up after myself after training.” The second the words left her mouth, she realized how it sounded.  “I MEAN, OH MAN, I DID NOT MEAN IT LIKE THAT, AGAIN, I AM SO SORRY!” Her face turned as red as her shirt.</p>
<p>“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that was some Top Energy right there,” Catra replied with a smirk.</p>
<p>Scorpia gave an awkward laugh, and then they both laughed together at the sheer absurdity of the entire situation.  And then Catra made Scorpia swear that they will never speak of this incident ever again.</p>
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